An 'American dream' in the 'England of the Pacific' : American influences on New Zealand architecture, 1840-1940

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Author

Date

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Thesis Discipline

Art History

Degree Grantor

University of Canterbury

Degree Level

Doctoral

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis investigates the American influence upon New Zealand architecture between 1840 and
1940. Taking a thematic approach, it argues that architecture in New Zealand, as a case study of a
broader historical discourse, reveals the significant impact of American styles, construction
methods, publications and educational practices in the century prior to World War Two.
Chapter One canvases the general history of N.Z.-U.S. relations before 1940. Chapter Two
reviews the same chronology to identify specific architecturally designed buildings that reveal an
American influence upon New Zealand practitioners. Divided into two parts this extended
discussion also explains why American architecture offered useful paradigms to designers in the
South Pacific.
Chapter Three demonstrates how publications were the principal means by which American
architectural ideas were communicated to architects and builders in New Zealand. In a similar
vein Chapter Four examines the ways in which architectural education brought practitioners in
the United States and New Zealand together in common cause. Chapters Three and Four address
the 'how' of American architectural influence in New Zealand.
Chapter Five considers how New Zealand architects reacted to the presence of American
influences within their local cultural domain. In addressing the question, why has greater attention
not been paid to American architectural influences in New Zealand before now, it highlights a
degree of resistance within the profession that was informed by both class sensitivities and
imperial loyalties.
In the Conclusion it is argued that the perception of World War Two as a watershed in New
Zealand's cultural and social history, during which New Zealanders became aware of the United
States for the first time, is ignorant of the longstanding relationship between the two nations. The
construct of New Zealand's cultural isolation in the century or more before World War Two can
be dismantled in the course of examining New Zealand's architectural history.